Ah, the American Dream – where bigger used to mean better. Now, though, far too many of us are on a quest to shrink it down a notch or two. In a highly stressed, always-on-the-go nation where super-sized portions and late-night snack runs are the norm, it’s no wonder that weight loss is on everyone’s mind…including My Ear Seeds’ CEO and Founder Kaci’s, after having three kids and still being in the postpartum phase with her youngest.

We’ve tried the diets, the gym memberships, even the quirky trends. But in this article, we’re talking about something a little different: ear seeds.

Ear seeds for weight loss? Are we crazy?

Nope! In fact, they might just hold the secret to helping you shed those extra pounds. And we have a really encouraging peer-reviewed research article to share that just may make you a believer, or at the very least, inspired to try them. Shop ear seeds for weight loss now »

Ear seeds for weight loss: A study using a smartphone app

Contrary to what you might hear from skeptics who haven’t invested much time into studying acupressure, dozens of auricular acupressure studies exist. The research is abundant, with more being published every year.

Until now, however, we haven’t come across one that considers the outcomes of not only just ear seeds for weight loss, but ear seeds for weight loss when a smartphone app is used as part of the intervention.

In this 2019 study, nearly 60 overweight (according to BMI) adult participants were randomly split into three groups:

Group 1: ear seeds with instructions only
Group 2: ear seeds with instructions, plus a smartphone app
Group 3: no ear seeds and no smartphone app

The smartphone app was called “Auricular Acupressure for Weight Reduction, V1,” and here are its features:

Group 1 and Group 2 participants received treatment for eight weeks. Here are the details of that treatment:

Sessions were twice a week, and ears were wiped down with alcohol pads before ear seeds were applied (six seeds to the ear)
Only one ear was seeded at a time, and the right and left ears were alternated between at every session
Participants in both groups were asked to stimulate the ear seeds three times per day (with reminder notifications being sent by the smartphone app to Group 2 participants)

Ear seeds for weight loss results

Alright, drumroll for the moment we’ve all been waiting for: were the ear seeds for weight loss effective? And was there any difference between Group 1 (ear seeds only) and Group 2 (ear seeds and the robust reminder/instructional smartphone app)?

Weight loss outcomes with ear seeds versus no ear seeds

Compared to the control group, after eight weeks, participants using the ear seeds had lower:

Body weight
BMI
Waist circumference
Hip circumference

Moreover, they felt fuller before meals than the control group.

Weight loss outcomes using seeds with a smartphone app versus no app

When comparing Group 2 (using the app) versus Group 1 (not using the app) alongside their ear seeds, the differences in weight loss and BMI markers weren’t significant, but they were notable. This suggests a small but positive correlation between app usage and better weight loss outcomes.

Satisfaction with the weight loss progress

For people who had largely not used complementary and alternative treatment prior to this study, their satisfaction with the ear seeds after the study was high.

Nearly 100% (97%, to be exact) said they would consider recommending ear seeds for weight loss to others! That’s a testament to what they personally experienced with their own ear seeds for weight loss results.

Ear seeds weight loss points

Six ear seeds weight loss points were chosen for the goal of weight reduction:

Shen Men
Large Intestine
Stomach
External Nose (Appetite Control Point)
Endocrine
Forehead

The objective with these acupressure points for weight loss was a) to minimize excessive caloric consumption and b) to promote the body’s natural processes for getting rid of waste.

Where to buy acupressure seeds for weight loss

To be transparent, there aren’t specific acupressure seeds for weight loss or any other health issue or condition. Any set of ear seeds can be used as long as you place them on the correct ear acupressure points. In other words, the key is not which ear seeds for weight to buy, it’s where on the ears to apply them.

So while other companies may sell branded “acupressure seeds for weight loss” kits, they’re really just selling you a general set of ear seeds along with a card guiding you where to place the seeds specifically for weight loss. Currently, we don’t sell kits for specific conditions, but rather, kits for where you are on your ear seeding journey.

So if you’re just starting out, we recommend the My First Ear Seeds Kit, which includes the materials (tweezers, alcohol wipes, the ear seeds, and a card with a QR code bringing you back to our website to refer to the right acupressure points). Alternatively, if you just need extra sleeves of seeds and a few alcohol wipes, we suggest the My Ear Seeds Refill Kit.

Where to buy acupressure seeds for weight loss

Finally, although we don’t have an app like what was used in this study (maybe someday!), we have a couple of tools and tips for making your own seeding experience more effective:

Ear Seeds Tracker — this one is for a duration of four weeks, but it’s yours to print as many times as you’d like once you purchase it (so you could print two to last you eight weeks if you wanted to follow this study’s protocol verbatim
Alarms on your phone — you could set three alarms for morning, afternoon, and evening as a personal reminder to stimulate your seeded points
Stopwatch or timer on your phone — you could press the seeds for 20 consecutive times (as in this study), or you could just press and hold, gently pulsating for a minute

So, what do you say…are you ready to try the ear seeds for weight loss? Shop ear seeds for weight loss now »

Happy seeding!

References:

Suen, L., Wang, W., Cheng, K. K. Y., Chua, M. C. H., Yeung, J. W. F., Koh, W. K., Yeung, S. K. W., & Ho, J. Y. S. (2019). Self-Administered Auricular Acupressure Integrated With a Smartphone App for Weight Reduction: Randomized Feasibility Trial. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 7(5), e14386. https://doi.org/10.2196/14386